The idea of a full year of travel might be amazing for social media likes but a gap year doesn’t have to be a hole in young people’s bank balance

Let’s play a quick word association game, where I say a word and you reply with the first word that comes into your mind. My word is “gap year” (OK, that’s two words). Was your response word “travel”?

As my son prepares to take a gap year (and my daughter finishes first-year university after taking a year’s break), I’m realising just how strongly gap years are associated with travel. Yet, for many school leavers contemplating a year away from study, travel is either well down the list of options, only a small part of their next 12 to 15 months, or not on the agenda at all.